SW Washington spring chinook

[KingFisher85]

Ya, I wonder what the wind river is going to look like this up coming year. I have yet to fish the wind and sure would like to.

[steelheadslayer]

KF 85, good info. Hopefully the fish 'managers' will realize which group of people 'US' pay their salaries and for their programs. I love springer fishing, not only to catch but they are the best eating salmon alive. A couple years ago I was pretty successful and gave a few of them away. What an Idiot. Now, I give away the fall fish, especially Tules. I don't get bugged for fish much now. :grin: I just hope the fish are agreeable when they get here. Did any one else not do very well at the Wind last year? I heard it wasn't very hot, so I didn't even go. It's radical watching 50 fish on at once in the circus of maddening crowded boats circling like sharks at a shipwreck. :laugh:

[KingFisher85]

Thought that us SW Washington fishermen might want to look at this

LOCAL SPRING CHINOOK FORECASTS LOOK BETTER

Thursday, December 26, 2002
By ALLEN THOMAS, Columbian staff writer

Spring chinook salmon returns to the Cowlitz, Kalama and Lewis rivers are predicted to be up 27 percent in 2003, the best combined return to the three lower Columbia tributaries in a decade.

The forecast for the Cowlitz River is 4,900 adult spring chinook salmon, If it materializes, it would be the best since 9,400 chinook made it back in 1993 and compares with 3,700 in 2002.

Cowlitz County's small Kalama River is predicted to get 3,600 adult spring chinook next year. That would be tops since 4,800 in 1983. In 2002, the number was 2,800.

The Kalama River run is expected to include 2,800 of the large, early-returning 5-year-olds along with 800 4-year-olds.

The Lewis River is anticipated to get 2,300 adult spring chinook, up slightly from 2,000 this year. The recent-year high for the Lewis River is 6,600 in 1993, but the return ranged from 10,600 to 16,500 in 1987 through 1989.

Forecasts are made by using the returns from the previous year and applying survival ratios. For example, the 4-year-olds of 2002 are used to predict the number of 5-year-olds in 2003.

Biologist Rich Pettit of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said the forecast for the Lewis might be a bit low. There are difficulties in accurately accounting for some of the jack spring chinook in the North Fork of the Lewis River.

Cindy LeFleur, Columbia River harvest manager for the department, said the improved returns predicted for the Cowlitz, Kalama and Lewis rivers mirror the survival seen in other spring chinook stocks, particularly Oregon's Willamette River.

Traditional spring chinook sport-fishing regulations allowing the harvest of six fish a day, but no more than two adults, are anticipated in the Cowlitz and Kalama rivers.

A reduced bag limit of only one adult is likely for the Lewis River with a boat-fishing closure between Johnson and Colvin creeks, same as in 2002.

Sportsmen caught 675 adult chinook from the Lewis in 2002, with 511 taken from the Kalama and 547 from the Cowlitz.

Forecasts for the Wind, White Salmon and Klickitat rivers, plus Drano Lake, in the Columbia Gorge will be released in mid-January.



Spring Chinook Salmon forecasts

Year Cowlitz Kalama Lewis

1992 10,400 2,400 5,600

1993 9,500 2,900 6,600

1994 3,100 1,300 3,000

1995 2,200 700 3,700

1996 1,800 600 1,700

1997 1,900 600 2,200

1998 1,100 400 1,600

1999 1,700 1,000 1,700

2000 1,700 1,400 2,200

2001 1,700 1,700 2,200

2002 3,700 2,800 2,000

2003* 4,900 3,600 2,300

* Forecast

[Bounty Hunter]

Hey good to know. Thanks for the report. Glad to see that the Kalama is on the upswing. Hope the Lewis follows suit soon.

I'll be real curious to see what they forcast at the Wind and Drano. The Willamette looks awesome, 100,000 + with lots of big 5 year fish!